Jason’s Top CES Products and Takeaways | E2232
This Week in Startups
Jason Calacanis
4.2 • 1.4K Ratings
🗓️ 10 January 2026
⏱️ 69 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This Week In Startups is made possible by:
Hubspot - http://clickhubspot.com/twist1
Circle.so - http://circle.so/twist
Sentry - http://sentry.io/twist
Today’s show:
On the last TWiST episode before Jason goes to Japan and Alex begins on paternity leave, the hosts break down the blockbuster tech news that is kicking off 2026.
Discord AND Strava both eyeing billion dollar IPOs, two massive social media apps with millions of daily active users. Jason unpacks Discord’s the growth story, from a gaming-first product launch in 2015, to a community/work platform and social media for all. Jason explains why Strava proves that data is the MOAT for consumer apps.
PLUS Jason and Alex are joined by Producer Oliver to rank the top CES products. Jason gave his thoughts on the different robots, self driving cars, and multi-fold phones on display.
Would you buy a triple-fold phone?
Timestamps:
(00:00) Discord looks to go public at $7 Billion!
(10:05) Hubspot: Check out the guide “How to Get Your First 100 Customers.” Download it for free at http://clickhubspot.com/twist1
(13:37) Strava going public and why data IS the moat for consumer software
(19:28) Circle.so: the easiest way to build a home for your community, events, and courses — all under your own brand.
(22:25) Anthropic’s $350B valuation and why it makes sense
(31:59) Sentry: New users get 3 months free of the Business plan (covers 150k errors). Go to http://sentry.io/twist and use code TWIST
(33:05) Why is China upset about META’s Manus acquisition — and why Jason is hopeful for the US-China relationship
(37:24) Jason’s favorite part of CES: The rise of open source AI!
(40:59) Why Jason LOVES his self driving Tesla — why public companies need to be safe and not push too quickly
(44:24) Producer Oliver’s Top CES Tech products
(54:46) Jason’s Major Takeway from CES
(59:43) How many times can you fold a phone?
(1:04:04) New interfaces for smartphones
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Follow Lon:
X: https://x.com/lons
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Follow Alex:
X: https://x.com/alex
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelm/
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Follow Jason:
X: https://twitter.com/Jason
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis/
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Thank you to our partners:
(10:05) Hubspot: Check out the guide “How to Get Your First 100 Customers.” Download it for free at http://clickhubspot.com/twist1
(19:28) Circle.so: the easiest way to build a home for your community, events, and courses — all under your own brand.
(31:59) Sentry: New users get 3 months free of the Business plan (covers 150k errors). Go to http://sentry.io/twist and use code TWIST
Great TWIST interviews:
Will Guidara
https://youtu.be/pvJa2pzuXWQ
Eoghan McCabe
https://youtu.be/9dHN4YFkgv4
Steve Huffman
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/reddit-ceo-steve-huffman-on-mod-revolt-building-a/id315114957?i=1000617333424
Brian Chesky
https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/airbnb-ceo-brian-chesky-on-early-rejection-customer/id315114957?i=1000611761112
Bob Moesta
https://youtu.be/y2UMzSqX94Q
Aaron Levie
https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/box-ceo-aaron-levie-breaks-down-box-ai-and-generative/id315114957?i=1000612384545
Sophia Amoruso
https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/sophia-amoruso-on-branding-raising-a-fund-portfolio/id315114957?i=1000601352978
Reid Hoffman
https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/reid-hoffman-on-ais-crescendo-moment-regulation-and/id315114957?i=1000612548498
Frank Slootman
https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/snowflake-ceo-frank-slootman-on-moving-the-needle-win/id315114957?i=1000602560622
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Well, we do love to look to the future here at Twist, |
| 0:02.5 | and we love to look to the future also at funny events like CES, |
| 0:04.9 | I mean that I've been to many times, Jason. But there's also a lot of kind of what I would call CS slot. Boston Dynamics' new robot. This one has an LLM attached to it and will eventually be available to consumers or businesses. But Jason, what does Hyundai good at? Mass manufacturing. They're good at getting things right at scale in a real world environment. |
| 0:23.4 | So if this is what they're showing off, businesses. But Jason, what does Hyundai good at? Mass manufacturing. They're good at getting |
| 0:20.8 | things right at scale in a real world environment. So if this is what they're showing off on |
| 0:25.1 | stage, I presume it's probably 80% as good as we think it is. And it really kind of rivals the Sunday |
| 0:30.5 | robotics robot and these partnerships with auto companies. It's going to become a common trend that |
| 0:35.2 | will continue to just watch. This is going to ramp up quite nicely. |
| 0:38.8 | These companies will have no problem making hundreds of thousands of these and eventually |
| 0:43.2 | millions. |
| 0:44.2 | So if people want them, they'll get these down to, that looks like $5,000 to $10,000 eventually. |
| 0:51.0 | Optimus and the Hyundai one I would put at $20,000. |
| 0:54.0 | This weekend startups is brought to you by Century. New users get. potentially, Optimus, and the Hyundai one I would put at 20,000. |
| 0:56.7 | This Week in Startups is brought to you by Century. |
| 1:02.5 | New users get three months free of the business plan, which covers 150,000 errors. |
| 1:07.2 | Go to century.io slash twist and use the code twist. |
| 1:09.0 | Circle.S.O. |
| 1:13.2 | The easiest way to build a home for your community, events and courses, all under your own brand. HubSpot. Check out the guide how to get your first 100 customers. |
| 1:19.8 | Download it for free at clickhubspot.com slash Twist 1. All right, everybody, welcome back to this |
| 1:27.2 | week in startups. Today is January 9th, 26. Alex is about to go on paternity, new baby coming. Congratulations, Alex, number three. I'm so excited for you. Yeah, I was talking to venture capitals that I really like. And she was like, hey, you're doing the thing no one does. You're making a middle child. And I'm like, great. I'm glad I'm keeping that TFR up. You know, I am a middle child and middle children rule the world because they don't get as much attention as the first or the last. So you have to just kind of carve your own way in the world. It's an advantage in a way. but yeah, I think there is something to it. And there's a lot on the docket today. |
| 2:03.5 | We're going to go over. |
| 2:04.4 | I was at CEO. carve your own way in the world. It's an advantage in a way. But yeah, I think there is something |
... |
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